PGA TOUR: Who’s feeling confident at Trinity Forest?
The AT&T Byron Nelson is the ninth oldest event on PGA TOUR, dating back to 1944, and is two years older than next week’s Forth Worth Invitational and the Houston Open. The Valero Texas Open, established in 1922 and the third-oldest event on TOUR, is the patriarch of the bunch. 
Golf in Texas has a proud history and that story will add another chapter this week as for the second time in three years, a new course will be brought into the PGA TOUR rotation. In 2016 the Austin Country Club made its debut as it hosted the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. This year, Trinity Forest — a 7,380 yard, par 71 course — will add its name to the list of places to hold TOUR events as it replaces TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas as host.
Located 12 miles south of Dallas, Trinity Forest has exactly zero trees on the property, but that hasn’t stopped Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw from their vision of an American-style links layout. Surrounded by forest, the course sits on an old landfill on property that is being leased from the City of Dallas for 40 years. Coore and Crenshaw shaped and molded this unique development under the watchful eye of governmental and environmental regulations. Not even two years old, Trinity Forest is still maturing but is ready to provide a unique test this week.
Jordan Spieth, one of the few members in the event, described it as an American links course. While there are a handful of shots that can be played on the ground, the majority will be played through the air. There isn’t any water, but 88 bunkers, wildlife reclamation areas and an unfamiliar grass, Trinity Zoysia, will present challenges to the field. All of the grass on the course, save for the Champion Bermuda greens, is Trinity Zoysia. The Zoysia, named for the course where it only exists, will run from tee to the edge of every green and there’s barely, if any, rough on the course. The absence of trees means the presence of wind and Texas has plenty of it. May isn’t the calmest time of year weather-wise either; big breezes and big, slick greens don’t mix, so the greens will run around 10.5 feet on the Stimpmeter. (Mike Glasscott | Published 5/15/18)